Re: umwelt

Alexei Sharov (sharov@VT.EDU)
Tue, 9 Jun 1998 08:03:16 -0400


Dear Arno,

>'medium' is not in 'autopoiesis and cognition' (1980), but it is to be
>found at other places, such as Maturana (1983, p. 259/260) or Maturana
>(1987, pp 340-1).

Unfortunately I could not find these articles in our library.
Before I order them from the Library of Congress, it will be nice
to know if this is what I am looking for. Can you tell me,
how close is Maturana's 'medium' to Uexkull's 'Umwelt'? In
particular, is 'medium' interpreted as physical environment or
is it an internal model of the world developed by an animal in
which each object has its function (purpose, meaning)?

-Alexei
-------------------------------------------------
Alexei Sharov Research Scientist
Dept. of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Tel. (540) 231-7316; FAX (540) 231-9131; e-mail sharov@vt.edu
Home page: http://www.gypsymoth.ento.vt.edu/~sharov/alexei.html